Minister urged to check environmental degradation from mining

An appeal has been made to the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology and Chamber of Mines to take “serious steps” to address the issues of mining companies and small scale mining (galamsey) whose activities were destroying the environment.

The Environmentally Concerned Citizens' Association of Ghana (ECCAG), an NGO, said it was concerned about the activities of some mining companies and small scale miners who after their operations abandoned the land leaving behind manholes, polluted drinking water bodies and erosion.

The Association said in a statement signed by Mr Joseph Yao Aido, National President that, it appreciated the activities of some mining companies such as Anglogold Ashanti, whose activities were now geared towards the revegetation of degraded lands. It said they were covering manholes and planting trees on the lands.

It said in view of this, the Association was planning to meet traditional authorities, community members affected by mining activities and to see how to solve the problem of the degraded lands, especially covering the manholes and to plant trees on them.

The Association said bamboo/rattan should be planted along river bodies to ensure that the communities would have good drinking water and good environment.

GNA